In a city strapped for cash, the recent state Supreme Court decision on a pension dispute favoring Harrisburg is welcome news.

The issue before the state’s highest court involved the city police union.
Former Harrisburg mayor Stephen R. Reed negotiated an enhanced pension with the police in 2008, but the deal was never approved by City Council.

Commonwealth Court had stated council should have been involved in the decision and the Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of the case.

If Harrisburg had lost the case, it would have paid an estimated $2.6 million, which as acting city Solicitor Jason Hess aptly summed up on the case, “It’s a big savings for the city.”

That savings is welcome news for a city facing a landslide of financial issues from the $326 million incinerator debt and a structural budget deficit of $6.8 million.

Because of the amount of money owed to bondholders, the city could even run out of funds and miss payroll at some point this year.

Reed should never have negotiated a deal on the pension with the Capital City Lodge 12 of the Fraternal Order of Police without City Council approval.

Although the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board and Commonwealth Court said the fact that Reed was a beneficiary of the pension boost had no bearing on their rulings against his action, it certainly doesn’t look good that he plowed ahead with the change.

The increase would have given a 10 percent boost to an officer with 27 years of service, meaning officers with that much time would have received pensions equating to 80 percent of their salaries instead of the current cap at 70 percent.

Unfortunately, the court decision does not touch two other contracts also negotiated by Reed in the waning days of his administration.

He left office on Jan. 4, but on Dec. 23 and Dec. 31 he was busy signing major labor contract extensions guaranteeing raises and existing benefits to city firefighters and city workers for years to come.

This action during the lame-duck days of his administration was irresponsible and should never have occurred.

Mayor Linda Thompson, facing a difficult budget left by the previous administration, should have had the ability to make important decisions about union contract extensions on her own when she took office.

What makes his decision to negotiate the city worker and firefighter contracts so troubling is that the difficulties facing Harrisburg were made clear well before Thompson took over as mayor.

Reed had talked about the hard decisions that needed to take place, especially given the crushing incinerator debt.

At this point, the city should follow advice laid out by the financial advisers who delved into the city’s financial problems and challenge the 11th-hour contracts.

Harrisburg has more than its share of financial issues and needs to look at any and all ways to cut costs, and union leaders should understand that the current situation is untenable.